Raw Nerve

source: Raw Nerve

RAW NERVE is an extremely cheap little B-movie combination of slasher movie and cop thriller, made in Alabama by the prolific David Prior, who churned out dozens of by-rote action flicks during his career. This one's notable for its cast and its bizarro storyline, which has an ordinary guy experiencing visions of a serial killer going about his work. The main guy (Prior's brother, I think) is hopeless, but the supporting cast includes Traci Lords as his little sister, Randall Tex Cobb as his uncle, Jan-Michael Vincent as the cop, Sandahl Bergman as a nosy reporter and Glenn Ford (!) in his final role as police chief. With all that talent, it's hard not to get some amusement from this one...

I only watched this because Glen Ford plays the sheriff character. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the simple yet stylish cinematography and flow of the story. There is a slight comic book element but somehow it doesn't follow the usual US made formulas. That's a good thing. Time isn't wasted on building up complex characters except the necessary background of the suspects. The script is simple, the action is believable and the story is interesting. On the negative side I didn't have any nail biting experiences or thrills. The outcome was predictable quite early on, so no surprises there.

I just wanna say that this movie made me laugh and laugh. Then when i stopped and thought about it. I said to myself..daaamn that's F@$#& Up! If you dont take it too serious. This movie is great. As far as a B movie rating i give it a solid 8 cause i know classy B-movie experts, could tell me why this movie could be better. My personal rating for this is a 10 cause i laughed so hard so many times. Also who ever was in charge of dressing all the female cast members was really good. Allot of the looks in this movie are back in fashion. First laugh of the film was when the second victim mistook her own reflection for her twin sister. I was like omg yes im ready for this wild ride. They just dont make'em like this anymore.

I'd read somewhere that David Prior was a bad director, but I find he falls somewhere in the middle. His films are made well enough, star people you've heard of, but it's the stories themselves that make you do a double take and think 'that doesn't make much sense'. This one stars Glenndon Fordham, Sandy Bermanster, Traci Lordy Lordy, Micheal Vincent Van, and Tex 'Randall' Cobb. Them are all folks caught up when a crazy killer type person starts going around shooting women in the face with a shotgun. Don't expect gore here though, because there's none. No * either. Ted Prior is Jimmy, a stock car driver who starts getting visions of the killings. His sister is Traci Lords, whom he's overly protective of (no wonder!). When Jimmy starts seeing the visions and goes to the police, they don't believe etc etc. As this is a David A Prior film, there ain't much action but there are plenty of twists, so I never found myself bored throughout. Loads of interpersonal drama threaten to sink the film, but Prior knows when to speed things up a bit. Not too bad.

A journalist (Sandahl Bergman of 'Conan' fame) believes Jimmy (Ted Prior), suspected of several murders, is innocent. The cop in charge (Jan-Michael 'Airwolf' Vincent) doesn't believe her, but he has personal reasons, while his boss (Glenn Ford) never trusts anyone, anyway. So it is a difficult job for her, and also she needs to keep an eye on Jimmys younger sister Gina (Traci Lords) who is in danger to become the next victim of the killer, whoever that is. Well, despite the famous cast, this could as well be episode 99 of a good quality TV series. It is OK to watch, but not outstanding; I don't think I'll remember it next month, especially since movies about psychopathic killers are 'a dime a dozen'. It's rather mild for this kind of subject, by the way: no nudity, minimum violence which is over very quickly, could almost pass for PG instead of R in my opinion.

Although given first billing for his box office name Glenn Ford is a strictly a supporting character in Raw Nerve. He plays a police captain and superior officer to Jan-Michael Vincent who is part of a triangle involving himself, former wife Sandahl Bergman who is an investigative reporter and stock car driver Ted Prior. And Prior is a chief suspect in a string of brutal murders of some pretty young women. In Peter Ford's recent biography of his father he says that Raw Nerve was his father's final big screen appearance. All I can say is after seeing Raw Nerve it's a good thing for posterity that Glenn Ford did the made for television film Final Verdict after this one got inflicted on the public on the big screen. And what really surprised me is that Peter Ford did not mention Final Verdict at all in his book. That was a work his father could have been proud of. Prior who is on the surface sunny and affable and a good guardian for sister Traci Lords down deep has a whole lot of issues, really big issues. He also gets visions of the various murders and they seem to point to his mechanic Tex Cobb. Raw Nerve is trashy and exploitive and certainly not a film I'd like to be remembered for.

During the 1980s and 90s, several of Hollywood's leading men of the classic era kept making film appearances...and in really, really terrible films. Anthony Quinn made dreck like "Ghosts Can't Do It", which is a soft-core porno film! Robert Mitchum made LOTS of terrible late career films, including "Woman of Desire". And, Glenn Ford made "Casablanca Express" and this film, "Raw Nerve". These films were so bad, so low budgeted that it makes you wonder WHY...why would these respected actors make crap films instead of just enjoying their retirement? Perhaps they needed the money...perhaps they were too vain to call it a day. All I know is that during this period of time, a lot of bad films starred these and other actors like Kirk Douglas, Mickey Rooney and others who simply were better than the material they were given. When the credits began to roll as the film began, I realized this would be a bad movie. After all, in addition to Ford, the film also features Traci Lords, the ex-teen * queen as well as Jan-Michael Vincent whose career clearly was on the skids. The plot is strange...not bad, not good...just strange...and a story you would NOT expect Glenn Ford to do. A race car driver finds he cannot see to drive during a race as he keeps seeing flashbacks of some serial killer murdering some woman. He goes to the police about it, but not surprisingly they just assume he's some crank. But some pretty lady takes a REAL shine to him and takes Jimmy home for some good lovin'...which is odd since she just met him AND he could be a weirdo. But even then, the weird visions continue and Jim thrashes about wildly as he sees these murders. So where does Glenn Ford come into this...especially since he received top billing? Well, he plays a cop but doesn't even appear in the movie until well into the story and really isn't the star. I'm sure they put his name first in order to give an air of legitimacy to the project. So is this film any good? Well, not particularly. It looks cheap, features only okay acting and could have been a lot better. In fact, aside from seeing Ford in his final film, I can't think of much reason to watch the movie. But, if you are curious (and a bit of a masochist), the film is currently posted on YouTube.

I'm surprised this movie was released in 1991. It looks much more dated than that, except for the blonde haired sister, Gina, who looks just fitting with the decade. 'Raw Nerve' is another one of those thrillers where mild-mannered ordinary joe starts having visions of murders, tries to convince the police that he can sense where their suspect is, and then winds up becoming a suspect himself. In a small Texas(?) town, there is a killer on the loose. Seven murder in fourteen days and the cops haven't got a clue or a suspect. That brings us to Jimmy Clayton, a thirty-something guy who lives with his younger sister, Gina. Jimmy starts having these painful brief blackouts in which he sees brief moments of the murder which occured moments before, if not days before. Brainiac that he is, he goes to the cops and tries to explain the visions for him, but they don't buy it for a minute, although they probably should've investigated at least something he said (that they didn't already know) because they didn't have any leads anyway. But, they give Jimmy the boot and basically tell him to stop wasting their time. Nobody listens to Jimmy. Well, one person does. An eager investigator (Aka snooping reporter) who thinks Jimmy's story will make great headlines for the local paper. And Jimmy actually spills his guts about the flashbacks or whatever they are about the murder with the red shoe foot *, though he doesn't know he's talking to a reporter (because he's an idiot). The murders are still happening, and it look like Jimmy's said his peace, but nothing is being done about it (and he doesn't seem bothered by it). So the omniscient, totally credible detective supposes Jimmy is the murderer and now the cops are after him unless he can prove his innocence. Actually, the captain just calls it a "hunch," a legal term for, we got nothing, so arrest that guy. Certain things in this dumb story just don't add up, including the good-but-soon-stupid twist at the end. This might've been at least a half decent movie if the acting wasn't so bad, especially some late timed dialogue by reporter Gloria and do-gooder Jimmy in addition to the stonewall John Wayne School of Acting troupe, Jan Michael Vincent (as the primary detective) and Glenn Ford (as the police captain). It really stinks up the place. Thumbs down.

AIP is a company that produced a treasure trove of low budget direct-to-video films that specialized in action movies, as the company name implies. Being a low-budget production company, you would think they would have been familiar with their forebear "American International Pictures" the original AIP. Why they used that name is a bit puzzling. Even though they made other types of genre movies, it was with action that they hit their stride. Although they ceased production in 1994, they left behind a legacy of VHS gems such as: "White Fury", "Alien Seed" (with Erik Estrada), and "Shredder Orpheus" (Maybe they weren't all gems) More AIP reviews will be forthcoming. "Raw Nerve" is another supremely silly entry in the AIP canon. It was trying to be a serious contender with other suspense thrillers cluttering video store shelves at the time. There are too many missteps in its execution, star power notwithstanding. At the local county fair, a woman is murdered in the Hall Of Mirrors. Meanwhile, local yahoos Jimmy (Prior) and slovenly alcoholic Blake (Cobb) are gearing up for a car race….until Jimmy sees visions of the murder from the "prior" evening. He sweats profusely and freaks out in an exaggerated manner. It jeopardizes his racing ability and he almost dies. The couple of yokels in the stands were hoping for a fiery death. Despite the fact this race is at 9am on a weekday, the stands are packed. In between breakfast beers, Blake doesn't seem too concerned about his chum's plight. Jimmy lives with his sister, Gina (Lords) she is a pre-med student and the "good girl". She goes to the prom and two strange looking preppies in their late 30's (and yet still in high school) offer Gina and her friend "wacky tabaccy". While Gina is thinking of giving in to peer pressure, another murder occurs. Now Jimmy is the prime suspect but no one believes him, especially the police. Down at the local precinct, Detective Ellis (Vincent) is assigned to the case. His is put in charge by Captain Gavin (Ford). In addition, Bergman plays Gloria, a reporter trying to get answers from Jimmy and in the process strikes up a relationship with him. Who can resist his sweaty freak-outs? Jimmy is naturally suspicious of Gloria. Also in the love triangle is Ellis who was previously married to her. If all this seems too confusing, it is not. While out one night soused out of his mind, Blake finds a mysterious red high heel. What is the secret of the shoe? Ellis and Gavin pursue Jimmy around town for most of the movie, which leads into a final confrontation on the top level of a parking garage. Blake with beer in hand (as usual) guns his truck through a concrete divider to his doom below….but is that the end?....is there one final twist? Sadly this was Ford's final film appearance. This follows the old saying: "Never have a last movie." Just look at Raul Julia (Street Fighter), Orson Welles (Transformers: The Movie (1986)) and John Candy and Peter Sellers as well. Now we can add Glenn Ford to this illustrious list. Randall "Tex" Cobb is a triumph as Blake Garrett. He is unshaven, his clothes barely fit, and he stumbles around drunkenly the entire film. He adds a lot. Ford steals the movie despite his minimal screen time: While reminiscing about his early days with Vincent and what lead him to becoming an policeman , he mentions to him that he almost became a florist. When Vincent asks him why, Ford responds with THE line of the movie: he angrily spits: "I LIKE FLOWERS!" Your nerves will be raw when you watch this classic tonight!